


the dimming of the day

by MJosephine10



Category: The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: F/M, or trying, she loves him as much as he loves her and that's what i'm doing here, the lyrics and title are from alison krauss' cover of dimming of the day, this is the Elena POV of my added scene for 6x22
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-26
Updated: 2018-12-26
Packaged: 2019-09-27 20:53:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17169197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MJosephine10/pseuds/MJosephine10





	the dimming of the day

**I**

 

_This old house is falling down around my ears_

_I'm drowning in a river of my tears  
_ _  
_ _When all my will is gone you hold me sway  
_ _  
_ _And I need you at the dimming of the day_

 

 _It's almost convincing_ , Elena thought, as the construct of a world fell into place around her. The expanse of inky sky above the road outside of Mystic Falls, shafts of light falling from street lights, the shadows of the trees stretched onto the road- it was well done. There was even a slight chill hanging in the air, just enough of a breeze to feel like an authentic summer night. Almost as if it were real.

 

And then. _Damon_.

 

Elena's heart twisted at the sight of the man standing in front of her- by whatever magic- love and heartbreak perfectly matched in his blue eyes, and she knew that the only real thing, the realest thing, was him. Him and what she felt aching between them, sharp and soft at the same time, filling up every space, meeting her here beyond consciousness and reality.

 

In this dreamscape of a world, in any world, he was the only thing she could count on.

 

“Damon?”

 

 _“Elena_ ,” he breathed.

 

And with that, she knew she was home.

 

They talked and Elena said things she meant but couldn't feel; they tried to dance but soon they slowed in each other’s arms. Everywhere they turned the thought of their separation remained; it was inescapable and cruelly present in every word and touch.

 

Her hands reached up to hold him closer, fingers loose in his hair. He leaned against her quietly, breathing her in in return. Neither of them spoke.

 

Under the unreal but beautiful night sky, it was as if they were the only two people in the universe.

 

She wished they _were_. In a painful rush of bitterness, she told herself that she didn't care about anyone else, didn't want to be anywhere except where he was, didn't care if everything else burned so long as she had him.

 

_You know that's not true._

 

The bitterness faded to weariness; she reminded herself that they were doing this for Bonnie, and that it was what they both wanted because they loved her. 

 

But it hurt. There were times when she was with him, like now, when generous, loving Elena was not so aware of her capacity to give as her capacity to need. And the truth was that, though few could see it, it was a sudden and achingly wide chasm, terrifyingly deep in a way which only Damon can fill.

 

Yes, Damon. _Damon._ Damon who came to Mystic Falls with a glint in his eye and manic dreams of revenge and a long lost love. Damon who had had no thought of her and then no thought but her.

 

Not that she knew why or how.

 

_What’s the deal with you and Damon, anyway?_

 

No one would ever understand, and Elena couldn't tell them, because she wasn't sure she understood it.

 

But the truth was as inescapable as the separation and the cause of the pain- that he was hers and she was his and she didn't think she couldn't live without him.

 

Damon shifted in her arms and she heard him breathe in sharply. (She knew before she saw that he was fighting back tears.)

 

"Can we go somewhere else?", she asked, voice shaking only a little.

 

He leaned in to kiss her and, against her hair, unable to meet her gaze, he nodded wordlessly.

 

**II**

 

 _What days have come to keep us far apart?_  
  
_A broken promise or a broken heart_  
  
_Now all the bonny birds had wheeled away_  
_  
_ _And I need you at the dimming of the day_

 

On the swing of her old front porch, leaning against him with his hand into hers, she thought it would be better, that she could be stronger here, _there_ for him. She had been able to do it with everyone else; she could do it for her boyfriend.

 

But her chest ached so badly she could barely breathe and it was a struggle keeping her eyes dry.

 

The view from the imaginary porch opened in front of them, familiar and dear and in that moment only theirs.

 

A stray breeze ruffled Damon's hair and carried his scent towards her more directly.

 

It her like the wave of repressed memories which came with her returning humanity- Damon saving her, Damon smiling at her, Damon's hand in hers, his arms around her, taking her up and away from danger and harm, Damon being _there_ like no one else ever had been or ever would be, loving her without hesitation, without regret, without thought, without end.

 

One memory flooded back with particular poignancy.

 

 _You are my life._ He told her that at the end of that summer when they had finally found Stefan and everything seemed like the universe was threatening to tear them apart. She could see his face as he said it, full of restless feeling and aching vulnerability, his eyes not meeting hers until after the words were said aloud and past the point of reclaiming. And she remembered how she'd felt when he said it- like some space in her she didn't even know existed was filling up from the inside, like the ground was shifting underneath her but in a way which make everything stronger, steadier. She'd felt invincible and overwhelmed and-

 

She couldn't say what it was, couldn't explain it, but she knew in that moment that it- this, this love, _them_ \- was everything, that it was hers, that it was real, that she wanted to build a life on it. 

 

That if she was his life he was hers too.

 

And now her life was leaving her.

 

Damon moved to tighten his grasp around her and she knew that she couldn't be strong with his arm around her because his arm around her meant she didn't need to be.

 

The motion and the memories and the aching pain of the moment fully swept over her. It was too much, and before she could stop herself she began to break. The dam of her restraint burst, her resolve to be strong for him melted away, and the air was filled with her shaking sobs.

 

In an instant, Damon had both arms around her, his face buried in her hair, holding her tightly. He said nothing.

 

They stayed there wordlessly, frozen in time, alive only to each other for several minutes- Elena clinging to and crying in his grey t-shirt and leather jacket, Damon refusing to relent the grip of his arms for a second. 

 

(She wished it could last forever.)

 

(Of course he had put his arms around her at the first sign of her pain- of course, of course,  _of course_.)

 

Damon let her cry for a long time, quietly and unobtrusively. He said nothing but somehow he made his own pain feel so much smaller than his love and concern for her.

 

She knew it wasn't, that they were equally matched. But that was Damon. 

 

**III**

 

_Come the night you're only what I want_

_Come the night you could be my confidant_  

 

 Time passed. It felt like hours, but also like forever, and also not nearly long enough.

 

She pulled herself together, and back into a sitting position. Damon released her slowly. His shirt was completely soaked.

 

"Sorry about your shirt," she laughed a little hysterically, pointing at the damage her tears had done.

 

"At least it wasn't the leather jacket. What would we have done then," Damon teased lightly. 

 

His eyes looked brighter than usual, illuminated by unshed tears or offset by the dark night Elena couldn't tell. He pulled her hand into his again.

 

"I'm sorry, Damon. I'm sorry. I won't be the one conscious, I won't feel _anything._ You'll have to live without me not the other way around and l-" her voice broke again.

 

"Hey, hey, hey,  _Elena_ ," Damon's voice was achingly reproachful. "You don't have to apologize." He put his hand to her cheek, feather-light and gentle as always.

 

"I'm sorry-" she began again.

 

"Elena, please, please never apologize to me, okay?" he interrupted, his voice half-laughing, half-desperate, and completely aching with love. "I know what you want to say but you don't have to be strong for me- that's why I'm here. You can cry if you want to. And I'll be right here when you wake up. I promise." 

 

She felt his faith and his certainty settle around her despite herself, gentle and transformative as falling snow. The pain began to ease a little.

 

The thought that she could see him again contained within it as much joy as the thought of separation held pain, and that was a steadying thing.

 

 _It's always all or nothing with us_ , she thought. _Agony or sheer joy._

 

That's because it was everything.  

 

"Okay," she whispered back. " _Okay_."

 

"It'll be okay, Elena. This isn't the end."

 

Elena looked into his blue eyes- those eyes which could be so guarded and shifting and dancing but which were looking at her now with so much certainty and love- leaned into his hand on her cheek, and mostly, _mostly_ believed him.

 

**IV**

 

_I see you on the street and in company_

_Why don't you come and ease your mind with me_

_I'm living for the night we steal away_

_I need you at the dimming of the day_

_Yes, I need you at the dimming of the day_

 

 

 


End file.
